Notify your users through push notifications on iOS devices.
The notifications system on iOS leverages the APNs Service, which requires a certificate to be invoked by the DPS backend.
You can configure the plugin to use a single app certificate (.p12), or in the alternative, you can use a team certificate (.p8) in case there are multiple mobile applications connected to the same DPS.
Single App Certificate
Here are the steps to obtain a certificate for iOS push notifications with Apple APNs service.
Prerequisites
An active Apple Developer Program membership.
A Mac with Keychain Access (needed to generate the certificate request and export the final certificate).
An App ID for your app with the Push Notifications capability enabled.
1. Create a Certificate Signing Request (CSR)
On your Mac, open Keychain Access → menu Certificate Assistant → Request a Certificate From a Certificate Authority.
Enter your email and a common name, select Saved to disk, and save the .certSigningRequest file.
This generates a private/public key pair in your keychain; the private key stays on your machine.
2. Register/verify the App ID
Go to the Apple Developer portal → Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles → Identifiers.
Select (or create) your App ID and make sure the Push Notifications capability is checked.
3. Create the APNs certificate
In the portal go to Certificates → + (add).
Under Services, choose Apple Push Notification service SSL (Sandbox & Production); this single certificate covers both development and production.
Select your App ID, then upload the CSR file from Step 1.
4. Download and install
Download the generated .cer file and double-click it to install it into Keychain Access.
It will be paired with the private key created in Step 1.
5. Export as .p12
In Keychain Access, find the certificate, expand it to confirm the private key is attached, and right-click → Export.
Save it as a .p12 file and set a password.
This .p12 (certificate + private key) is what your push server uses to authenticate with APNs.
Multiple Apps Certificate
Go to the Apple Developer portal → Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles → Keys → +, enable Apple Push Notifications service (APNs).
Under Configure, select Team Scoped (All Topics) and the Sandbox & Production environment (if you select Topic Specific, the key is bound to a single bundle ID, and you are back to the original problem).
Download the
.p8file (only once; it cannot be downloaded again) and take note of the Key ID and the Team ID.Enable the Push Notifications capability on the App ID of the target apps.
Plugin Configuration
To enable this plugin, you need to:
Go to the Integrations / Plugins page.
Select the Notifications category.
Locate the iOS Push card.
Click on the card switch to activate the plugin.
Enter the Mobile Application ID, the certificate, and the relative password.
Save.
Here is the list of all the properties that can be used in the plugin configuration.
PROPERTIES | |
|---|---|
Sandbox | The flag that identifies whether the certificate is for SANDBOX or PRODUCTION.
|
Single App | |
Mobile Application ID | The identifier of the target mobile application.
|
Certificate | The certificate file (.p12) that is used to connect to the APNs.
|
CertificatePassword | The certificate password used to connect to the APNs.
|
Multiple Apps | |
Team ID | The identifier of the Apple Developer team that owns the apps, available in the Membership section of the Apple Developer portal.
|
Key ID | The key identifier, which is shown when the authentication key is created, is also available in the Keys section of the Apple Developer portal.
|
Auth Key | The team-scoped authentication key file (.p8) used to sign the tokens sent to APNs.
|
Test Connection
By clicking the Test Connection button, you can test whether the plugin is configured correctly.
Before clicking it, you must:
Install the mobile app on your iOS device.
Login to the DPS from the mobile app.
In the plugin, fill the Test Email with the same email used to log in from the mobile app.